News and Opinion

A zero tariff, zero quota trade deal between the UK and Australia would damage Northern Ireland’s beef and sheep trade, the new DUP leader has warned. Edwin Poots said the prospect of such an agreement posed a “high level of risk” to farmers across the UK. Poots outlined his concerns in a letter to UK […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has released a video in which he is standing in front of an existing hospital and calls it “one of 40 new hospitals we’re going to build” VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OF PHYSICS OF THE WEEK A few days ago, health secretary Matt Hancock released a video in which he is […]

Two in five firms that trade with the EU expect to see a fall in business compared to before the coronavirus crisis, a new study suggests. A survey of more than 700 company directors also found that almost two-thirds were still finding it challenging to adjust to new post-Brexit trading arrangements. Customs changes and non-tariff […]

Chris West, an historian of the contest, chronicles its greatest ever controversies After a year’s hiatus caused by the pandemic the Eurovision Song Contest returns this week, in Rotterdam. As ever, the event has been accompanied by a palaver about some of the entries. The main focus this year has been on Belarus, which has form for doing […]

UK ministers have a “shocking” lack of knowledge about the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland following Brexit, MPs have heard. The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee joined together with the Northern Ireland, Scottish and Welsh affairs committees to hear evidence on the Government’s union capability. Appearing as witnesses were Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove […]

Downing Street has said “negotiations are still ongoing” amid reports the cabinet is in agreement over a planned trade deal with Australia. The Sun reported PM Boris Johnson will offer Australia a 15-year transition to a zero-tariff, zero-quota trade pact, with the BBC reporting it was understood a cabinet row over the matter had been […]

Downing Street has denied that NHS Test and Trace delays in alerting local authorities in hotspot areas to positive cases helped contribute to the spread of the Indian variant. It follows a report by the BBC that for three weeks in April and May, eight local authorities in England – including Blackburn with Darwen – […]

Readers have their say on Scottish independence Thank you very much for Ian Dunt’s article highlighting the unmistakably close parallels between the mendacious arguments of Brexiters and the SNP. It has been obvious for ages that the separatists have been using words and slogans almost identical to those who succeeded in splitting the UK away […]

The creation of a new public sector body to oversee Britain’s railways will simplify a system that is “too complicated”, transport secretary Grant Shapps has claimed. Great British Railways (GBR) will own and manage rail infrastructure, issue contracts to private firms to run trains, set most fares and timetables, and sell tickets. It will absorb […]

The Flemish government has spent €1 on buying a 500-year-old castle that had become derelict because of a feud between the brothers who owned it

TIM WALKER on Rishi Sunak’s latest spending, and why the theatrical Fox dynasty is a broad church when it comes to politics Although he scarcely faces much competition, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, prides himself on being the most ‘gym fit’ member of the cabinet. The lockdowns have meant he couldn’t attend any of the Digme gyms […]

It’s time for Labour to look for funding from those that share its internationalist social liberal values. I thoroughly agree with the views expressed by Alastair Campbell in his open letter to Keir Starmer. However, I would like to draw attention also to the important trends set out by Peter Keller in his excellent analysis. […]

Former BBC Gaza reporter JAMES RODGERS on why the region’s conflict has suffered from the world picking sides It is a part of the world still blighted by the scars of empire, the meddling of other states and the failures of its own leaders. And, with wearying familiarity, this month violence has broken out once more. As troops mobilise against […]

Arlene Foster is set to meet prime minister Boris Johnson for the last time as Northern Ireland’s first minister later. The outgoing DUP leader announced her resignation last month following an internal revolt within her party. Edwin Poots was narrowly elected to be her successor over Jeffrey Donaldson last week. Poots is expected to appoint […]

Losing the Batley and Spen by-election would mean “curtains” for Labour leader Keir Starmer, former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has suggested. Abbott, an ally of left-wing former party leader Jeremy Corbyn, used an article in the Guardian to claim Starmer’s time at the top of the party could be over if he fails to […]

Britain finds itself on a collision course with France over fishing and access to the EU single market as forms and fees on UK visits to friends and family in France begin to bite It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain as various Brexit chickens continue to come home […]

We shouldn’t be shy of telling some home truths each time the cycle of violence spins once more Talking about ‘both sides’ of the Israel-Palestine issue makes us feel better. Every few years, the violence flares up again, like some hellish treadmill, rumbling forward to nowhere, each step another atrocity, another failure. Framing the situation as […]

Senior officials were “hounding” colleagues over the approval of a PPE supply contract worth a quarter-of-a-billion pounds to a hedge fund with “close ties” to the government, the High Court has heard. The Good Law Project and EveryDoctor are bringing legal action against the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), claiming that contracts awarded […]

The use of violence in opposition to the Northern Ireland protocol is a “last resort” but not “off the table”, a member of the Loyalist Communities Council has said. Representatives from the LCC appeared before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) on Wednesday, as part of its inquiry into the Brexit protocol. Committee chairman Simon […]

Downing Street has refused to comment on reports the wallpaper in the prime minister’s lavishly furnished flat is falling down. Work on the No 11 apartment Boris Johnson shares with fiancee Carrie Symonds is the subject of a series of investigations. Johnson has insisted that he has paid for all the works himself but has […]

LIZ GERARD crunches the numbers on how Paul Dacre’s Daily Mail covered BBC stories and finds evidence that makes a mockery of the idea of him as an impartial arbiter. Over the last ten years of the Dacre reign, the Daily Mail carried more than 4,000 news stories with BBC in the headline or subhead, about […]

A decision on whether Paul Dacre will become the next head of Ofcom is expected imminently. That it is even being considered is a scandal that reveals much about the current administration There are any number of reasons why Paul Dacre should not be appointed head of Ofcom, the super-regulator that oversees not only our […]

The UK government remains “fully committed” to trying to bring about a meaningful ceasefire in Gaza, a foreign office minister has said. James Cleverly said the international community is “pulling together” to restore permanent peace in the region and called on all parties to work to “reduce tensions”. Cleverly also condemned “acts of terrorism by […]

Boris Johnson has laughed off claims that he’s planning “planning to throw our farmers and crofters under the Brexit bus” over trade negotiations with Australia. There had reportedly been a spat in cabinet over fears a zero-tariff agreement to benefit Australian farmers could inflame tensions in Wales and Scotland, as two areas where the farming community would […]

Boris Johnson has been questioned at Prime Minister’s Questions on the UK’s border policy after his former chief adviser branded it a “joke” and “nonsense”. On Monday, Dominic Cummings accused ministers of developing policy “based on nonsense memes” which claim that people in Asian countries, “all do as they’re told… it won’t work here”. Writing on […]

A new book about the Anglo-Saxons demolishes faddish myths that aspects of their culture live on today, and instead tells their own story in gripping style We are blessed to live in the golden age of straight-talking history. ‘Straight-talking’ rather than ‘popular’, because the people filling the windows of Waterstones are scholars of unimpeachable renown, often with […]

Fully vaccinated UK holidaymakers could be given the green light by EU ambassadors to visit the bloc this summer, but there is confusion over the government’s policy on international travel. The ambassadors are meeting on Wednesday to discuss easing restrictions on non-essential trips into the EU. Portugal and Greece are among the countries that have […]

An extraordinary photographic exhibition focuses on Britain’s most peculiar local folklore rituals. But how are these events still managing to survive changing times and attitudes while attempting to remain true to their traditional roots? How about this to get the health and safety bods hot under the collar? A procession of extroverts in fancy dress […]